Bangkok - The director of the World Scout Jamboree reacted with outrage Wednesday to a Thai Public Health Ministry plan to give condoms to the 30 000 participants gathering for the event on a Thai beach this weekend.
"Whose idea was it to pass out condoms? Are they crazy?" asked jamboree director Yuwarat Kamolvej. "They must know that the international scout movement has regulations against condom use and sexual activity. I am the only person who can say yes or no to this and I won't allow them to pass out the condoms at the World Scout Jamboree."
The controversy was touched off earlier this week when Public Health Ministry spokeswoman Nittaya Mahaphon and other officials said condoms would be distributed to the 22 000 boy scouts and girl scouts and about 8 000 scoutmasters and other supervisors from 128 countries expected to attend the 20th World Scout Jamboree, which runs from December 28 to January 7 in the seaside province of Chon Buri, 120km south-east of Bangkok.
While the Public Health Ministry, which has waged one of the region's most successful campaigns to halt the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, viewed the condoms as a prudent precaution, Yuwarat said he preferred the zero tolerance approach.
"If some boy scouts act against regulations, they will be expelled from the camp," he said. "If anyone acts in an inappropriate manner, they will be kicked out."
He said organisers of the event, which will include a mass campout with 4 500 tents along the beach, will ensure that the scouts, mainly between the ages of 14 and 18, have minimal opportunities for sexual contact.
In another apparent reaction to the condom plan, the Public Health Ministry's deputy director, Police General Pracha Phomnok, was quoted in local press reports Wednesday as saying condoms would only be passed out to adults attending the jamboree.
He said an additional supply of condoms would be kept in reserve and given out on request.
- Sapa-DPA